Archery target



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ARCHERY TARGET Filed Feb. 15, 1965 2 sheets-sheet a United States Patent V`-O 3,409,300 ARCHERY TARGET Albert M. Rockwood, Muskegon, Mich., assignor to Brunswick Corporation, a corporation of Delaware Filed Feb. 15, 1965, Ser. No. 432,551

Claims. (Cl. 273-102) ABSTRACT 0F THE DISCLOSURE This invention relates to an integrated varchery target which more accurately tests the elevational and lateral aiming skill of the archer by reason of certain of the target regions being elongated in either the horizontal or the vertical direction.

Iny the past, the ancient sport of archery, in contest form, has merely amounted to the shooting of a designated number of arrows at a target, usually a conventional bulls-eye. The values of the target region hit by the arrows were totalled, thus giving the archer a score for the group of-arrows shot. While it cannot be said that archery played in this manner is not a true test of the skill of an archer, because of the methodical scoring system and the lack of variety in point of aim, the sport of archery has lacked the appeal for both archers and spectators found in several sports where an element of luck is present.

It is therefore, the principal object of the invention to provide a novel larchery game suitable for league play providing enjoyment for the archer and designed to maximiz'e participation.

More specifically, it is an object of the invention to provide a novel archery game similar to ten pin bowling wherein ten frames with generally two shots per frame are provided, the shots being directed at a target having ten regions of varying degrees of difficulty to hit which are accorded values from one to ten, there being provision for the acquiring of strikes and spares and the accompanying bonus points by hitting certain of the regions or combinations thereof with certain arrows. In the first nine frames a maximum of two arrows per archer are tired, while the tenth frame permits a maximum of three shots. A hit on the target region valued at ten by the rst arrow of a frame is considered a strike and terminates that frame for that archer. Such an occurrence is scored in each frame as ten plus the value of the target regions hit by the next two arrows unless the rst of the subsequent two arrows does not hit the region valued at ten and the total value of the two subsequent arrows is greater than ten. In this case, the score for a strike is ten plus the value of the region hit by the first of the two subsequent arrows. The second of the two subsequent arrows does not score. A spare is scored as ten plus the value of the next subsequent arrow and is achieved by hitting the target regions whose combined total equals ten with the two arrows of any given frame. When the archer does not obtain a strike with the first arrow of a frame, and his second arrow hits a target region whose value when combined with the value of the region hit by the first arrow (l) exceeds ten, the vscore of the second arrow is not counted and the archer receives only the score of the first arrow, or (2) is less than ten, the archer receives the combined score of the two arrows. A strike or ,a spare in the tenth frame permits the tiring of two and one bonus shots respectively, while a complete miss of the target in any frame is scored as zero.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a novel archery game including a tiring line from which arrows are fired at a target having ten regions which vary from each other in the degree of diiculty of being hit by an .archer and which are accorded values from one to ten in a direct relation to their respective difficulties.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a novel archery game including a firing line from which arrows are tired at a target having ten distinct regions valued from one to ten with no two regions being accorded the same value, means for determining they target region hit by an arrow, means for indicating which of the regions has been hit, and means for additionally indicating which of the target regions should be subsequently hit by an arrow to maximize the archers score :accordingl to the rules of the game.

Another object of the invention is to provide a target face arrangement for an archery game that provides a test of the archers skill yet introduces an element of luck into the scoring with ten regions of verying size or orientations of differing dificulties which are accorded values from one to ten in a direct relation to their difiiculties as determined by their respective sizes and orientations. As nearly as is possible, regions with complementary spare values, such as the regions having values of one and nine respectively, are placed on opposite sides of the target. Thus, an archer playing a game according to the invention having hit a region with a value of nine and needing to hit region with a value of one to pickup .a spare, must shift his point of aim appreciably between shots, thereby adding to the interest and diiculty of the game. v

Other objects of the invention will become' readily apparent from the'following detailed description taken in connection with the drawings wherein: f

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal section through a form of the invention, approximately along the line 1-1 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 2 is a transverse section of FIG.` l taken approximately along the line 2 2; 1 v

FIG. 3 is another transverse section of FIG. 1 taken approximately along the line 3 3; l Ef FIG. 4 shows a preferred form of the target face arrangement; and

FIG. 5 is a fragment of a score sheet for a game according to the invention. '1 l' An archery range particularly suited for use with an archery game according to the invention, such las that described hereinafter, is shown in FIGURES 1-3 and is described in detail in the copending application Ser. 432,- 787, filed Feb. 15, 1965, and assigned to the lsame assignee as the instant application, the disclosure of which is here-V in incorporated by reference.

As disclosed in the above cited application and as shown in FIG. l, the archery range comprises a shooting station or firing line 20 from which an archer may tire arrows 24 at a target 26. The target 26 may bear inscribed markings or may have the markings projected thereon by a projector 27. Scanning means 25 are provided adjacent the target 26 for scanning the ight path of an arrow 24 tired at the target 26 to determine the point at which the arrow 24 hit the target 26. g

' A backstop 28 is placed behind the target 26 for. stopping arrows 24 passing therethrough and subsequently ejecting such arrows onto .a subjacent collector 29. From the collector 29, the arrows 24 are returned to the tiring line 20 by an arrow return and quiver loading mechanism in the manner disclosed in the above cited ,applicationand as disclosed and claimed in the copending application Ser. No. 429,017, tiled Ian. 29, 1965, and assigned to the same assignee as the instant application. t v Briefly, the arrow return and quiver loading mechanismcomprises a first pair of narrowly spaced belts 30a, 30b (see FIGS. 1 and 2) trained along one edge of the collector 29 which pick up the arrows 24 from the collector 29,-

and convey them to a belt 32. The belt 32 transports the arrows to a second pair of narrowly spaced belts 34a, 34h (see FIGS. 1 and 3) which, in turn eject the arrows into a` quiver 36 adjacent the firing line 20. The archer 22 may take..arrows. 24 .from theA quiver 36 as the-course of the-fY game requires.

Additionally, to aid the scoring of the game, there is provideda target monitor 38 (see FIG. 1) for indicating to :the archer M22 and such spectators as may be present, tl1 epoint atwhich the arrow 24 hit .the target 26. The target monitor 38.lof course, includes suitable means responsive tonthescanning means 2.5, such as those disclosed inithe,.first-mentioned,l copending application, for accomplishing this function 1 Y PItis to be understood, that while a game according to the invention, such. as that described below, may-be played on an archery range such as that set forth above, it is not limited thereto.

Onegame according to the invention is somewhat analagousto bowling and envisions the provision of ten frames.` With the exception of the tenth frame, the maximum 'number of arrows fired by an archer .during each frame'is two. `In the tenth frame, the maximum number of arrows'to he fired by-an archer is three. The arrows aredired at a target face having ten regions, each of a different size or orientation of different difficulty and valued from one to ten in direct relation to their respective difficulties. Thus, the most diicult region to hit of the ten regions will be accorded a value of ten, and the easiest a value of one. Should the archer hit the target region valued ten with his first arrow in a frame, that frame will be terminated for that archer. This occurrence may be termed a strike. He will receive on the score sheet a total of ten plus the values of the regions hit by the next two arrows fired, unless the first of the subsequent two arrows does not hit the region valued ten and the total value of the two subsequent arrows is greater than ten. In this case, the score for a strike is ten plus the value of the region hit by the first of the two subsequent arrows. The second of the two subsequent arrows does not score.

If the archer hits a target region valued at less than ten with his first arrow in any frame, he will aim at the target region whose value, when added to the value of the target region hit by the first arrow, is equal to ten.

If the archer accomplishes this feat, which may be termed a spare, his score will be ten plus the value of the region hit by his next arrow.

For example, if an archer hits a region with the value of six with his first arrow, he will then aim his second arrow at the target region with a value of four. If the second arrow does hit the region valued at four, he then receives ten plus the value of the region hit by the first arrow of the following frame, as in bowling. If the archer does not hit the region valued at four, but rather hits a region valued at five or more, the value of the region hit by the second arrow is disregarded. Should the archer hit a region valued at less than four, he then receives as his score six plus the value of the region hit by the second arrow. A complete miss of the target does not score. The scoring for each of the first nine frames is conducted in this manner.

The manner of scoring the tenth frame is as follows: if the first arrow in the tenth frame hits the region valued at ten, the archer is permitted to fire two bonus arrows. Should the first bonus arrow hit the target region valued at ten, the scoring is twenty plus the value of the region hit by the second bonus arrow. On the other hand, if the first bonus arrow does not hit the region valued at ten, the scoring is ten plus the combined value of the regions hit by both bonus arrows in the event the combined value does not exceed ten. If the combined value of the regions hit by the two bonus arrows is greater than ten then the scoring is ten plus the value of the region hit by the first -bonus arrow- If the two arrows fired in the tenth frame hit regions whose combined value is equal to ten, the archer may fire a single bonus arrow. In lthis cast, the scoring is equal to ten plus the value of the region hit by the single bonus arrow. Should none of the above 4, occur, the tenthlframe is scored in the same manner as the first nine frames.

It will be apparent that this game requires the archer to shoot at a different target region whenever he shoots more than one arrow in a frame. This places a premium on the accuracy of1 the first shot and requires consistency of performance from frame to frame. While the archer must exercise great skill in order to 'hit the required combinations of regions in Veach frame, the element of luck is introduced by the features of the game wherein the archer-s point of aim for the second shot is determined by his first shot and the values of the regions hit by the two arrows of each frame must not combine to a number greater than ten.

It has long been known that the area of any region on a target is one factor in determining the difiiculty of hitting that particular region. It has also been discovered, in the case of archery, that the orientation of a particular region on a target with respect to the other target regions is a factor to be considered in determining the difficulty of hitting any particular region. For virtually every archer, it is easier to hit the correct vertical plane containing the point of aim on a target than it is to hit the correct horizontal plane containing the point of aim. In other words, an archer would find it generally easier to hit a target region elongated vertically than' a target region having the same shape and area which is oriented with its elongated dimension in a horizontal plane. In arriving at the target arrangement shown in FIGURE 4, both of the factors of size and region orientation were considered. The target 26 comprises a square divided into ten rectangular areas. Along one edge is a vertically elongated rectangle 161 given the value of one. Along the opposite target edge is a somewhat smaller vertically elongated area 162 valued at two. 'On the upper edge of the target is a horizontally elongated region 163 given a value of three, while the remainder of the lower edge of the target 160 has thereon a horizontally elongated region 164 of somewhat smaller area than the region 163, and another horizontally elongated region 165 having a lesser area than the region 164. The regions 164 and 165 are accorded values of four and five, respectively. The regions 161 through 165 surround and confront four smaller regions 166 through 169 which in turn surround and confront a central region valued at ten. The vertically disposed rectangular region 166 is given a value of six and is placed generally between the regions 161 and 163, and the central region 170. The region 167 is given a value of seven and is disposed between the regions 164 and 165 and the central region 170. Although the area of the region 167 is greater than that of the region 166, the fact that it is oriented in a horizontally elongated manner greatly offsets the size difference and makes it a more difficult region to hit. Accordingly, it is given the higher value of the two. On the opposite side of the central region 170 from the region 167 is a horizontally elongated region 168 which is given a value of eight. The region 168 has a smaller area than the region 167, but an area substantially equal to the area of region 166. However, since the region 168 is horizontally elongated and the region 166 is vertically elongated, the region 168 is more difficult to hit and is given the higher value of the two. Another region 169 is given the value of nine and is placed between the central region 170 and the region 162. The region 169 is, of course, slightly larger` in area than the central region 170.

It will be apparent that the target arrangement just described is particularly well suited for playing the archery game of the invention. In particular, as nearly as is possible, target regions having complementary spare values such as one and nine are placed remote from each other. For example, an archer about to shoot his second arrow of a frame having previously hit the region valued at nine and needing to hit the region valued at one to accomplish a spare, must shifthhis point of aim appreciably between',v shots thereby adding Atothe variety and 4difiiculty of the game. Similar relationships 'exist between the regions valued at three and seven, and four and six.`

fMeans "are provided to indicate to an `archer who has mlssd a strike with his first4 arrow which of the regions should be struck with his second arrow of a frame yso as to,rriaximize'his score, oriin other words, achieve a spareJ 4This is accomplished by colorcoding the two regionsthat rnis't be'hit by the'two arrows of a frame to achieve a fspare. By way'of example, the one region 161 may be'solid graywhile-the nine region 1 69 may be hatched ,in graygsimilarly, the two region 1,62 may be colored blue while the eight region 16,8 may be hatched in bluefThefthree region 163 may be solid red while the seven region 167 may be hatched in red. The four region 164 is colored green, while the six region 166 is hatched in green. The five region 165 which must be hit by both arrowsin /aframeto achievepa spare -may be a single color such Vas yellow, while the central strike" or ten region 170 is black. Thus, an archer having hit the seven region 167 with his first arrow in a frame, need only aim at the solid colored region having the same color which in this 'case would be the three region 163. Of course, it is to be understood that the color scheme outlined above is merely exemplary and that many other color combinations could be used to achieve the same result.

Additionally, it has been determined that for maximum enjoyment of the game, and to achieve a representative distribution of scores, that the target, when used in a 60 ft. range, should have a length along each side-in the range of -24 inches.

FIGURE l1 shows a portion of a score sheet 180 used in scoring an archery game played according to the rules set forth above. In the first frame, Tom, withhis first arrow has hit the target region 169 valued at nine. With his second shot he has hit the target region 161 valued at one and accordingly is given a mark for a spare Toms score for the first frame is not complete until he has fired his first arrow for the second frame which in this case hit the region 167 valued at seven. Thus, Tom receives seventeen for his score for the first frame. Toms second arrow in the second frame failed to hit the target, thus he scores but seven in the second scoring opportunity, giving him a total of twenty-four for the two fra'rnes. In the third frame, Toms first arrow has hit the region 170 valued at ten, and accordingly he receives a' strikef Toms next two arrows, fired in the fourth frame, result in hits of the region 166 valued six and the region 163, valued at three, respectively. Thus, Tom receives in the third frame nine plus ten giving him totals of forty-three after three frames, and fifty-two after the fourth frame. Dick, in each of the first two frames, has managed to hit the smallest region 170 valued at ten. He is then given a strike in both the first and second frames, but his score for the first frame is not complete until he has fired his first arrow in the third frame. Dick hit the region 169 valued at nine with his first arrow in the third frame. Thus, he receives twenty-nine in the first frame.. The scoring for the second frame is not complete until Dick has shot his second arrow in the third frame. In this case, Dick, with his second arrow in the third frame, hit the region 165 designated at five. Since nine and five are greater than ten, the scoring of the second arrow is discounted. Dick then is given ten plus nine in the second frame for a total of forty-eight, and nine for the first arrow in the third frame giving him a total of fifty-seven in the third frame. Turning now to Harrys scores, it is seen that in the first frame, his first arrow hit the region 169 valued at nine. Harrys second arrow in the first frame hit the region 162 valued at two. Since nine plus two is greater than ten, Harry does not receive the value of the region hit by the second arrow; but rather only receives nine. Similarly, in the third frame, Harrys first arrow has hit the region 167 designated as seven, while the second arrow has hit the 'region 166 designated' as six. The total of the values of these two regions being greater than ten, Harry only receives the value of the region 167 hit by the first arrow which is seven. From the foregoing description and illustration, it is lbelieved apparent how the game is played.

Having disclosed va specific embodiment of my invention, I do not intend that my invention be limited to the specific construction set forth, but rather construed'broadly according to the true spirit thereof as set forth in the following claims. i

I claim:

l. A target arrangement for an archery game comprising: means defining a planar target surface and means defining ten target regions, including means defining a central region smaller in size than the nine other regions and accorded a value of ten, means defining first andsecond largest regions accorded values of one and two, respectively, and being vertically elongated; said first and second largest regions being on opposite sides of said central regions and spaced therefrom; means defining third, fourth and fifth largest regions accorded values of three, four and five, respectively, and being generally horizontally elongated, said third largest region being spaced from and on one side of said central region and adjoining said first and second largest regions; said fourth and fifth largest regions being spaced from and on the other side of said central region and adjoining said first and second largest regions; means defining four regions confronting and surrounding said central region and wholly occupying the space Ibetween said central region and said first, second, third, fourth and fifth regions; at least three of said four regions having different sizes; at least one of said four regions being horizontally elongated; and at least one of said four regions being vertically elongated; said four regions being accorded the values of six, seven, eight and nine in direct relation to the degree of difiiculty of hitting each of said regions as determined by their size and direction of elongation.

2. For use in an archery game wherein arrows are adapted to be shot at a single target, a target comprising: means defining a target surface adapted to be contacted by arrows; means defining a single closed target area on said surface; means defining a plurality of target regions Within said area with the regions occupying the entirety of said area, and with some of said regions having an elongated dimension, all of the elongated ones of said regions having their elongated dimensions extending either generally horizontally or generally vertically with some of said elongated regions having their elongated dimension generally horizontal and others of said elongated regions having their elongated dimension generally vertical; some of said regions further differing in area from other of said regions.

3. The target of claim 2 wherein each of said regions is assigned a different value to be accorded to an archer when an arrow shot by the archer strikes the regions, the values assigned to certain of the regions being complementary to the values of others of the regions with at least some of the regions having complementary values being located at opposite points within said area whereby an archer hitting one of the regions having a value complementary to another of the regions must change his aim significantly to strike said another region with a subsequently fired arrow.

4. The target of claim 3 wherein the regions having complementary values are color coded with variations of a common color scheme to indicate to an archer the region with a value complementary to a previously hit region that should be hit with a subsequently fired arrow.

5. For use in a game wherein missiles are fired at a target with a plurality of regions each having a distinct value for scoring la game with the scoring being primarily based on the combined results of at least two missiles being'non-square, some of said'remaining regions having their elongated dimensions extending yertically'and lthe others having their elongated dimension'extending horizontally; at least some of said regions haying Van area different from others of the regions, a firstgroup of |said remaining regions surrounding and confronting said 

